Jonathan Pacheco’s official title might be general manager for Bugsy & Meyer’s Steakhouse at Flamingo, but he describes his role as “an ambassador of fun,” adding, “I’ve been very blessed to have a great team around me, but at the end of the day my job really is to ensure that the experience from our guest’s perspective allows them to forget their worries for the hour and a half I have with them. I take that very seriously, and so does the rest of the team.”
Pacheco is very familiar with making Las Vegas a great destination for visitors—he spent 15 years with the Wolfgang Puck Dining Group overseeing classic restaurants like Spago, and for a couple of years helped open and oversee restaurants for the Hakkasan Group.
Pacheco moved to the city in 1980 with his family from Central America. Growing up here, he didn’t necessarily ever want to work on the Strip, but from the moment he landed his first job at The Mirage, he was dazzled by the world of food and beverage. He hasn’t left the Strip since. More than a year ago he was approached by the Caesars corporation.
“I was honored and humbled that the Caesars team chose me to assist in creating their vision for Bugsy & Meyer’s,” Pacheco says. “Senior leadership really wanted to pay homage to the founders, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, and what they really brought to Vegas back then—the glamour and the glitz.”
Mother Superior
When asking Pacheco what the favorite part of his job is, his answer couldn’t be timelier. “I have this unique opportunity to impact someone’s life—especially now with the temperature of what’s the craziness of the times,” he says. “If I have the opportunity to allow the guest to suspend their worries and woes they have going on in their lives and just transport them and give them a great experience, enjoy a great meal and ambience—I think that’s really what this is all about for me.”
Libation: Mother Superior
The cocktail program was inspired by the founders of the Flamingo, Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, who traveled to Florida and Cuba frequently and brought back a lot of Cuban and rum influences. The menu is very rum-focused with more than 50 brands—everything from the novice to experienced palate. A favorite cocktail (a seriously delicious must-try) is the Mother Superior, a blend of Flor de Caña 4-Year Extra Seco rum, grenadine, Luxardo maraschino liqueur and fresh pineapple juice.
Benefit: Although it’s a steakhouse, Bugsy & Meyer’s offers an intriguing vegan and vegetarian menu.
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